The Fire Returns
by The Amazing Steve
Summary: With Garmadon no longer evil, the ninja all live "normal" lives with their families, all while shielding their children from their pasts in order to protect them. But with a new danger in Ninjago, they realize how out of shape they are, and begin to question if they will be able to save the city once again, not to mention deal with the drama happening between their children.
1. Chapter 1

**HELLO EVERYONE! I'm really really realllly sorry for being gone for so long, but I promised you guys a sequel to A Burning Passion, and that's exactly what you're getting :) Be warned though, the first/second chapters get a little... dark. I don't want to say anything more or else I'd spoil it for you.**

**So, after a terribly long absence, I am back for AT LEAST the entire summer. I'm trying to get back into writing, so expect a new chapter at least once a week.**

**I hope this story was worth the wait :) ENJOY!**

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**Character pairings with names/ages of children:**

KaiXJulia:

-Joey, age 13

-Stephanie, age 8

LloydXKruthika:

-Zack, age 12

-Ryan, age 12

JayXNya:

-Brian, age 16

-Jessica, age 18

ZaneXAmanda:

-Tyler, age 16

ColeXMelissa:

-Toby age 20

MisakoXGarmadon:

-Derek, age 21

* * *

**Julia's P.O.V.**

"'Father,' said the Green Ninja, 'I believe it is time to end this.' He closed his eyes and bowed his head, allowing a vibrant green ball of energy to grow in his hands." I glanced down at my daughter, almost asleep in my arms, and my son, sitting quietly in his bed. I continued the story. "A war cry escaped the Green Ninja's lips, and the ball of energy shot at the dark lord. The dark lord flew far from the ship, landing in the ground like a meteor. The five ninja and their sensei ran off the ship to the crater, and what they saw was not at all expected.

"An old man rose from the center of the crater, approaching the sensei and embracing him. Then he moved to the Green Ninja and embraced him as well. 'Thank you... son,' he whispered into the boy's ear. The old man was the Green Ninja's father! The man who had been turned into the dark lord had been returned to normal!

"And without the dark lord terrorizing Ninjago, the citizens and ninja experienced a time of peace, and they all lived happily ever after. The End."

I closed the book and again looked at my children. Stephanie was now asleep, while Joey still sat cross-legged on his bed, mesmerized by the story - even though I've already read it to the kids thousands of times. Of course, it was the story of how the we had all defeated Garmadon, except I left out many, MANY details to protect my babies, such as the ninja's girlfriends (now wives), and Lloyd's, Kai's, Jay's, Zane's, Cole's, Wu's, and Garmadon's names. I was hoping the worst was over, and there would no longer be any need for the ninja. Besides, after all these years spent living a "normal" life, I don't think the ninja, the girls, and I could handle a battle, and I most certainly did NOT want my kids to endanger their lives in battle.

After tucking in Stephanie into her bed and kissing her forehead, I heard Joey ask, "We should name him after the Green Ninja. What was his name, Mom?"

I patted the spot in my pregnant stomach and sighed. "No one knows the Green Ninja's name, or any of the other people in that story." I turned away and cringed a little. Lying to my kids was not in any way a fun thing to do, but I felt like it was the only way to protect them from my past.

He closed his eyes as I kissed his forehead. "That would be nice, though, to meet the Green Ninja."

I smiled. "I have a feeling he would like you. Goodnight sweetie."

"Goodnight. Wait, Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"When's Dad coming home? He promised to take me hiking tomorrow."

"He'll be home later. He's just working late tonight, that's all."

"Alright. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I turned out the light and closed the bedroom door, now worried all over again. Kai rarely worked late, and if he did, he would call. I had already called his cell twice this afternoon, but with no answer. I went out on the porch into the fresh night air, hoping it would calm my nerves. I pulled out my phone and tried again; still no response. Sighing, I stared off into the distance.

That's when I noticed it. _Them._ Hundreds of _them._ Approaching this very house. "It can't be..." I whispered to myself. But no, it was.

The Serpentine were back. And coming for me and my kids.

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**It's kinda short, but I plan on posting the second chapter later today.**

**So what do y'all think so far? Please review for me, I'll love you forever :) ****Also please spread the word to people who were awaiting this story so they don't miss out!**

**See ya later, friends c:**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2. Enjoy ^u^**

**Just kidding. You probably won't enjoy. This chapter gets hella dark.**

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**Joey's P.O.V.**

I heard Mom running through the house. Suddenly, she threw open the bedroom door and turned on the lights. "Joey, wake your sister," she said in a frantic voice. "Just wake her and run to the basement." Then she was running down the hall again._  
_

Steph was already partially awake from the sudden light change. I gently shook her to get her up, but she was to groggy to move much. I picked her up and grabbed our shoes; I had a feeling we would need them.

At the bottom of the basement steps, I put our shoes on, and Steph finally awoke. "Why are we in the basement, Joey?" she asked quietly.

I quickly made up some excuse to pacify her curiosity. "We're playing a game with Mom. She'll be here in a minute." Just at that moment, Mom came rushing in, holding a long, thin suitcase and a set of keys. She rushed over to a bookcase without any books in it and pulled it away from the wall. "Is that a secret passage?!" I asked in shock.

"Yes, now hurry in here and be quiet." Steph and I ran inside as a crash was heard from the floor above us. Scratchy voices whispered back and forth. Then, there was a sound like splintering wood coming from the basement door. Mom then handed me the suitcase and the keys. Looking my in the eyes, she said, "Dad taught you how to ride his motorcycle, right?" I nodded. "Be careful, and just get as far away as possible. This path eventually leads outside, and once you get outside, do not stop. Just go until you get into the city. Ok?"

"But what ab-"

"Ok?!" she asked more intensely than before.

I took a deep breath, realizing this must be EXTREMELY important, and nodded. A sad smile appeared on her face as she held my face in her hand. "You were always the calm one." Then she kissed Steph and me on our foreheads and closed us inside the secret passage.

Inside the passage - which was surprisingly well lit - was two red motorcycles. I put the suitcase around my shoulder and started one up. "Steph, get on behind me and hold on tight, ok?"

"What about Mommy?" she asked with tears in her eyes.

This was gonna be hard to deal with. "She'll be ok, just hop on." I just hoped she believed it more than I did, because right now I had no clue what was happened on the other side of that bookcase. Steph got on and we heard her scream. Our mother was screaming bloody murder. I froze in place, and Steph started crying.

Suddenly, a familiar voice shouted, "The kids are behind the bookcase! GET THEM!" and I started driving through the passage. It sounded awfully similar to Uncle Derek's voice...

Steph clutched me tighter and cried into my shirt, while just kept going faster and faster, trying to ignore my own tears forming in my eyelids. I heard scratchy-sounding voices from behind us, slowly fading away.

Pretty soon, we were out in the moonlight, speeding towards Ninjago City. We lived on the outskirts of the city, but on this motorcycle, we should get inside the city in a couple minutes. These creepy, snake-like creatures that reminded me of the Serpentine from Mom's story were everywhere. All of them were going towards our home. I braked to keep from running one of them over, and it shot a burning liquid into my eyes.

The next thing I knew, Steph and I were on the ground. I opened my eyes, and clowns were everywhere, and the snakes were nowhere to be found. I screamed at the sight of the clowns; I don't care if they're meant for fun, clowns are SCARY.

I held Steph's arm and closed my eyes. "Steph, Dad taught you to ride his bike, right?"

"A little," she said through her tears.

"I need you to ride it into the city. Can you do that?"

"I'm scared, Joey!"

"You can do this, Stephanie! Just pretend you're here with Dad! Everything will be ok!" I felt her stand and go over to the bike, so I moved with her. Back on the motorcycle, I heard a snake ask someone, "Hey, aren't thossse the kidsss we were sssssupposssed to capture?"

"DRIVE, STEPH, DRIVE!" I yelled. I held her tight as she sped away from the madness. I didn't want to open my eyes. Apparently, whatever that snake spit in my eyes was causing hallucinations.

* * *

Soon, the sound of the snakes disappeared, and was replaced with the sounds of Ninjago City at night. I opened my eyes, and the hallucinations continued. _I guess I'll just keep my eyes closed forever._

Steph stopped the bike and got off. "Where are we?" I asked her, holding her hand as she led me up a set of stairs.

"Uncle Lloyd's house," she replied semi-cheerfully.

I heard her knock on the door, and then Uncle Lloyd's voice: "Hey! What are you guys doing here so late? Where are your parents?" At the sound of the word "parents", Steph broke down in sobs again. "Oh, um, just - uh, come in guys. Why are you keeping your eyes closed, Joey?"

Aunt Kruthika spoke before I could answer. "I just put the boys to bed, an-" A pause. "What's going on?"

Someone led me to a couch, and I explained everything. Well, as much as I knew. Uncle Lloyd made me drink a tea of some sort, and I opened my eyes to see his face, not a clown's face. Aunt Kruthika had put Steph to sleep on the couch, and she gave me blankets to do the same.

Even after calming down some, my dreams were still haunted by that blood-curdling scream Mom let out earlier.

God, _please_ tell me this was all a dream...

* * *

**Well, um, yea... Julia was attacked by the Serpentine... who knows if she's dead or alive? Kai still hasn't made an appearance... What's his deal?**

**I warned y'all it would get bad. But yea. I have nothing to say at the moment.**

**Review please :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm back :D ****Enjoy Chapter 3~**

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**Joey's P.O.V.**

I woke up to the sound of women talking, and I immediately wondered where I was and what was happening. My eyes stayed shut until I felt a small hand on my back and heard a familiar voice in my ear. "Joeyyyyy, wake up! Aunt Kru made blueberry pancakes!" That's when the events of the previous night came back to memory.

Smelling the warm, sweet smell of the blueberries, I finally mustered enough strength to push myself off the couch and stumble into the kitchen.

Then I stumbled out of the room a bit. All of my aunts and uncles were there, cooking pancakes and bacon (YUSSSS) and making coffee and doing the dishes. All of them greeted me simultaneously, then Aunt Amanda led me into the dining room, where all of my cousins were.

First of all, let me get this straight. None of these are my _actual_ relatives; they were simply family friends, who for some reasons we called relatives. The only people that my family was actually related to were Uncle Jay, Aunt Nya, and their two kids, Brian and Jessica.

Anyway, I sat down at the table between Steph and Toby. Although Toby was a LOT cooler than his dad (Uncle Cole was always telling everyone what NOT to do, and always seemed so angry and tense), Toby looked EXACTLY like Uncle Cole. It was pretty funny to be honest. I watched as my aunts brought in plates for everyone, and tried my best not to drool over it.

"Alright, kids," Uncle Jay said, coming into the dining room, "the guys and I are all gonna go out for a bit. Don't give the ladies here too much trouble. Or else, ya know, you're grounded." He winked as he said that last part. Uncle was the opposite of Uncle Cole - he may threaten to punish someone jokingly, but everyone (including his wife) knew he wouldn't follow through with it.

The men all kissed their wives good bye, and left the room. Then, we kids took that as our cue to dig in to breakfast.

Suddenly, the tune of the "Weekend Whip" by The Fold filled the air, and Aunt Nya answered her phone. "Hello?" There was a long pause, and although I was stuffing my face with bacon and blueberry pancakes, I still managed to catch a glimpse of how pale her face turned. "KAI?!" she yelled into the phone, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Aunts Amanda, Kru, and Melissa turned to her, shock written across their faces.

I dropped my fork. "Well, Joey and Steph are with me and everyone else at Lloyd's, but Julia..." When her voice trailed off after saying my mother's name, the echo of her scream returned to my memory, and I almost cried.

You could probably hear my dad's voice a mile away through the phone. "WHAT THE HELL DID THOSE SCALY BASTARDS DO TO HER?!" Steph, Ryan, and Zack all giggled at the curses. I don't think Steph understood what was going on, but the twins were just being really immature. As usual.

Aunt Nya then proceeded to finish her phone call in another room.

After being reminded of the previous night, I was no longer hungry, and excused myself to go to the bathroom. Then I went back to sleep.

* * *

**Kai's P.O.V.**

As I drove to Lloyd's, I could not thinking about last night. I had no idea how the Serpentine had found me at the car repair shop I worked at, nor could I remember how they managed to stuff me in one of the lockers in the back room. The boss came in this morning and almost fired me at the room's mess. But after seeing me in a locker, he literally laughed it off. At least he gave me a week off after I explained how much shit my family (and most likely my friends) were probably in.

I just really hoped Jules was ok. If those filthy fucking Serpentine did ANYTHING to hurt her... BOY were they gonna pay...

At least the kids were ok. At least the passage Jules and I created as an escape route was useful to save them.

Over the phone, Nya was able to convince me that it was more beneficial to meet up with the guys back at the house instead of going back to my house. Lloyd, Zane, Jay, and Cole had been there after Steph and Joey showed up at Lloyd's, and had no luck in finding my wife. They also had trouble fighting off the few snakes that were left behind - just as I had last night at work. It was obvious we were gonna need some back up if we were gonna face possible the entire Serpentine army any time soon.

I burst into Lloyd's house. "Joey? Steph?" I called immediately.

Steph ran up to me with her finger to her lips. "Shhh! Joey's sleeping!" I picked her up and hugged the crap out of her. _Thank God,_ I thought.

She led me to the living room, where Joey was asleep with tears in his eyes. I stroked his head and left him there to sleep, instead looking for the guys. Steph ran off somewhere else in the house, probably looking for the other kids.

I wandered into the kitchen, where Melissa, Amanda, Nya, and Kru were washing dishes. Nya dropped a plate when she saw me, wrapping me in a hug. "Kai! Thank God you're ok!"

"Um, thanks, sis... Where are the guys?"

Nya composed herself before responding. "They went out to look for you, but Kru called them to come back after you called. They should be back soon."

As if on cue, the front door opened, and in walked the four guys. "Hey, look! I found him!" Jay joked. I rolled my eyes. This kid literally hasn't changed one bit since our ninja days.

* * *

**Joey's P.O.V.**

I woke up from my light nap, and wandered through the house in search of the other kids. I found all of the adults - and DAD! - sitting at the dining room table, obviously discussing something serious. I sat behind a wall to eavesdrop, being too tired to deal with my cousins anyway.

Their conversation went like this:

Dad: It's obvious we can't fight them, at least not alone.

Zane: Agreed. We had trouble fighting off a few Serpentine last night. How will we be able to fight off a whole army?

_(So those_ were_ Serpentine..._)

Amanda: Well, I mean, you haven't been ninja in how long? You may just be out of shape. If all nine of us got back into shape, we might be able to take them.

_(NINJA?! What the... Was my dad... a _ninja?)

Cole: I doubt it. My joints were killing me after five minutes.

Melissa: *giggles* That's because you sit around watching TV all day, and you work in an office. You don't get as much exercise as you used to.

Kru: Yea! You used to have SO much more muscle!

Jay: You used to be able to lift an ENTIRE bus full of people!

Cole: OK! Ok, I get it!

Nya: Guys, this isn't helping. I honestly don't feel that we could fight them off with or without training. We're just too... old.

The room was silent for a long time.

Lloyd: You're not gonna like it.

Kai: Like what?

Lloyd: There's really no other way.

Zane: What is it, Lloyd?

Lloyd: I mean, they already have some of our powers, I've started to notice it-

Kru: You don't mean-

Jay: YOU WANT OUR KIDS TO FIGHT THE SERPENTINE?!

Lloyd: THERE'S NO OTHER WAY. *pause* I don't want to. I mean, my kids are friggin twelve. I don't want to put them in danger. But ALL of us will be in danger if we don't at least try. *another pause* And we won't need all of them to become ninja or anything, just the oldest boy should have powers, so the younger ones won't have to endanger themselves as well.

Nya: What, so Jess can't be a ninja?

Lloyd: Sensei Wu told me about it before. It's only the oldest boy. The younger ones might have slight powers, but nothing to worry about. The powers come naturally, as well, so they should be easy to train compared to, well, us. We had to actually learn our powers. This is also why I suggested we train them when they turn ten; they'll eventually figure out their powers eventually. It would be easier if we stopped lying to them about our past and start teaching them the truth.

"Wait, you've been _lying _to us?!"

There was complete silence, as I realized that voice came from me. I stopped breathing and kept completely still, hoping they would brush it off and ignore me...

"Joey, get in here," Dad commanded.

"Uhh Joey's not home, please leave a message at the beep... BEEP."

"Joseph. Now." Uh-oh... When Dad uses "Joseph", I'm probably in a lot of trouble. I got up from my spot on the floor and went into the dining room. "How long have you been listening?"

Despite the serious nature of the conversation, I just couldn't help myself. "Since before Uncle Cole became fat and lazy and unable to lift a bus." Uncle Cole looked like he was about to murder me, but the other adults all laughed at my comment.

After settling down, Dad sighed, like what he was going to say was going to kill him. "Would you be ok with it?" he asked quietly.

"Um, with what?"

"What Lloyd mentioned. Would you be ok with it? You've always been the most anti-violent, so if you're ok with it, I don't see any reason why we can't train the other kids as well."

I was shocked. They were actually serious?

Pondering it for a moment, I thought of Mom. Those Serpentine... they _hurt_ my _mother_.

But violence was not ok. But... Mom...

"Yes," I said quietly. Then louder, "Yes, I'm ok with it." Only for Mom.

* * *

**I think the majority of the story will bounce between Kai's, Joey's, and Steph's P.O.V. Mostly Joey though. For now. I don't know. In case none of you have noticed yet, I start my stories having no idea where the hell they're going.**

**I imagine Stephanie to be HELLA adorable, like an innocent little 5-year-old. Even though she's eight. Hehe.**

**Also, someone (can't remember who & too lazy to check) commented on the last chapter something like "please update soon! no pressure though I don't wanna rush you." Actually I would prefer if y'all bugged me to update because otherwise I'll probably forget.**

**Have a nice day :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry I haven't updated in over a week, was at the beach for a friend's birthday. I got sunburn on my right foot and left shoulder. I don't know how the heck that happened, but it did.**

**Also if you didn't see the new episodes of Ninjago on Sunday I feel really bad for you because they were AMAZING. Holy crap I cried three different times within the hour, it was such an emotional roller coaster this week. I'm pretty sure Cartoon Network is replaying the two new episodes on Thursday at either 5 PM or 6 PM, so if you were planning on watching them, this is your chance!**

**Anyway... on with the story!**

* * *

**Kai's P.O.V.**

Everyone gathered in the living room, and Lloyd explained the situation to the kids. He also gave them a brief history lesson about our ninja days, and even how we trained our wives to fight alongside us. It took a while for all this to sink in, but I could tell they all quickly recognized how we tried to protect them from our past, and didn't hold it against us.

The ninja and I pulled out six of the kids to become ninja. Lloyd was unsure which of the twins had inherited his special green ninja powers, and needed to train both until he discovered which it was. Besides that, Toby became the black ninja of earth, Tyler became the white ninja of ice, Brian became the blue ninja of lightning, and Joey became the red ninja of fire. I really hope nothing happens to Joey during all this. If it did... I don't even wanna think about it.

The females all stayed in the living room, while the guys all headed into the basement to begin training.

"Hey, Lloyd," Tyler said, "why can't Sensei Wu or Garmadon train us? Or even Misako?"

Us adults got realllly quiet when their names were brought up. I thought Lloyd was going to destroy Tyler for bringing up such an emotional topic, but then again, Tyler was always the disrespectful one. Even with amazing parents Amanda and Zane.

Lloyd simply sad quietly, "Because they're dead."

The kids got quiet as well, and bowed their heads in respect. Except that little shit Tyler. "Heh, figures. Must not have been great teachers anyway, since you guys kinda suck-"

"Tyler!" Zane shouted in shock. I don't know why he was shocked. His kid is a royal asshole, and no one seems to be able to stop him.

Tyler grinned at him innocently. "So are we gonna just chill here all day? Cuz I got a date with those hot twins across the street tonight, so I don't got all day."

The ninja and I simultaneously sighed, and took our sons to train them individually.

After a while, I noticed that Lloyd was struggling with his sons. "Hey Lloyd! Why don't you just call up your brother Derek and ask him to help you? Isn't he able to tell who has elemental powers?"

"I haven't heard from him lately. He rarely answers my calls, so I gave up on calling. Besides, if he wanted to talk to me, he'd come find me. He knows where I live."

I heard Joey drop the sword he was holding, and turned around to see his face deathly pale. Before I could ask what was wrong, he said, "I heard him."

By now, everyone had turned to see what was going on. Zane squatted down in front of him and tried to calm him down. Joey looked like he was having a frickin panic attack.

Finally, Joey spoke again. "After they took Mom, I heard him. Derek. He said 'The kids are behind the bookcase. Get them.'"

"Are you sure it was him?" I asked. Joey nodded.

There was a pause, then Brian spoke up. "Well that's just wonderful! Derek is an amazing fighter! I mean, we've all seen him battle of crooks when he joined the police force. And he's in control of the Serpentine?! That's even worse, considering you guys were NINJA and you couldn't defeat them. How are we gonna be able to beat them?! Oh, hehe, no offense..." As you can see, Brian (like his father) LOVED to listen to himself talk. In fact, Jay and Nya's kids were spitting images of the couple: Brian was exactly like Jay, and Jessica was exactly like Nya. Except they weren't hopelessly in love with each other. That would just be weird.

Cole, Zane, Lloyd, and I all noticed how Brian sounded EXACTLY like Jay whenever our situation seemed hopeless back in our ninja days, and burst out laughing. Jay stared at us and kept asking "What's so funny?", which only made us laugh harder.

* * *

**Stephanie's P.O.V.**

We all heard the boys laughing in the basement. "Yes, of course, because goofing off is totally the way to train kids with zero fighting experience to battle the Serpentine army," Aunt Melissa said, rolling her eyes. I giggled at her sarcasm.

Aunt Nya stood up. "Ya know what? I still have something from our fighting days that might be of use to us now."

Aunt Amanda looked at her. "What is it?"

Aunt Kru: "You don't mean-"

"Yep," Aunt Nya replied. "My Samurai X suit."

* * *

We went to Aunt Nya's house to find her suit thingy. It was getting dark out, so Jess let me hold her hand. Jess is really nice to me.

Aunt Nya went into her closet and in the back there was a fancy red helmet. She pulled it out and gave it to Jess to put on.

"Wait, you want _me_ to be Samurai X?!" she said.

"Why not? The guys are bringing back the ninja, why not bring back Samurai X as well?"

Jess sighed. "Alright. Why not?" She took the helmet and Aunt Nya led everyone into the backyard. Jess put the helmet on, and Aunt Nya showed her how to call the suit thingy to her. Suddenly we saw it flying through the air and landing on the ground in front of us. It was really cool! Aunt Nya showed Jess the controls. She got them, but they seemed really hard to me, so it's a good thing I wasn't the new Samurai X.

Out of nowhere we heard glass breaking. "Nya, I think someone just broke into your house..." Aunt Kru whispered.

"It's Serpentine. I just saw one of their tails," Aunt Melissa said.

We stood in silence for a couple seconds, and I heard those scratchy voices from last night coming from inside the house. "Quick! I ssssee people in the backyard!"

"Who isss it?"

"There are a bunch of girlssss out there. It ssseemss to be the wivesss of the ninja."

Then there was that one voice that sounded like Derek's but I hope it wasn't his because I like Derek. "What are you dumbasses waiting for?! Get them already!" That wasn't a very nice word to use, sir.

Jess stepped forward in the Samurai suit. "Let's test this thing out," she said calmly.

"Does it even work?" Aunt Nya asked. "I haven't charged it in ages! If only Jay were here, he could use his lightning to charge the batteries real quick..."

Jess put her hands on the controls and suddenly blue lightning came out of here fingertips and into the suit! It was only a little, but it was obviously enough to charge the suit.

"How did you-" Aunt Nya's words were cut off by Serpentine breaking down the door and flooding into the backyard.

"Everyone grab onto the suit!" Jess yelled. We did, and Aunt Kru held onto me just in case. Then Jess flew up into the sky, but one snake grabbed my leg. I screamed really loud, and on reflex, I tried to punch it. Instead of punching it, though, a little flame shot out of my hand and hit him in the face!

Aunt Kru looked just as shocked as I did. As Jess flew the Samurai suit back to Uncle Lloyd's house, I heard Aunt Nya mutter "Lloyd's got some explaining to do..."

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**I feel like this chapter is short. Oh well.**

**So what happened with Jessica and Stephanie right there? Lloyd said only the OLDEST MALE would have powers... Did he lie?**

**Find out next chapter! Also please review and I'll love ya lots 3**

**REMINDER: New Ninjago episodes are on Thursday this week at 5/6 PM!**

**Have a nice day! (or night. where I am right now it's night :P)**


	5. Chapter 5

**This chapter was a tad bit more difficult than I thought it would be to write. Oh well, I figured it out finally :^)**

**Sorry if I don't update at least once a week (like I originally planned). I have a lot of summer assignments that need to get done, and it's been a bit stressing. But I'm posting as often as I can. Please don't give up on meee :3**

**Yes. On with the story. Wooo~**

* * *

**Joey's P.O.V.**

The front door slammed so loudly that we heard it from the basement. "LLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOYYYYYDDDD!"

Uncle Jay laughed. "Sounds like the wife's mad at you."

"That's YOUR wife, idiot," Cole pointed out, causing Uncle Jay to pale a little.

Aunt Nya came running down the basement steps before any of us could react. She grabbed Lloyd's shirt in her fist and held his face close to hers. I don't think I've ever seen her so pissed. "I thought you said only the OLDEST MALE child possessed elemental powers? Yea, well you're WRONG."

Those two argued a bit, but basically it was determined that Sensei Wu said it was very rare for more than one child to exhibit elemental powers, and of course, we had TWO special cases.

Of course that meant the twins got their hopes up. Ryan and Zack both wanted to be the green ninja, and if only one of them could, they'd practically be enemies for life.

"Also, um... at the house..." Melissa started, but couldn't seem to finish.

"We heard Derek commanding the Serpentine," Amanda continued.

"I actually saw him inside the house for a second. It was definitely him," Kru finished.

"Welp, that confirms it. We're screwed," Uncle Jay started, clearly on the edge of a long rambling, but Aunt Nya kissed him to shut him up. Ew.

"Did everyone bring their cookie box?" Lloyd asked seriously. Why was he worried about cookies at a time like this?! That sounds like something COLE would say, NOT Lloyd.

Uncle Jay, Cole, and Zane nodded, but Dad paled. "Uh, I think it was at the house when the Serpentine attacked." He face-palmed.

Kru brought over the suitcase Mom gave me the night Steph and I fled the Serpentine. "Don't worry, Kai, it's right here." Upon closer inspection, "COOKIES" was written in Sharpie on the side of the suitcase. I was really confused... Mom gave us _cookies?!_

The other kids looked just as confused as I did, and the other former ninja (minus Lloyd) brought out suitcases of their own, also marked "COOKIES". They all opened their suitcases and pulled out different gold weapons. As if this were a sacred ceremony, each ninja brought the weapon he brought to his son.

Uncle Jay to Brian: These are the nunchucks of lightning.

Cole to Toby: This is the scythe of quakes.

Dad to me: This is the sword of fire.

And finally, Zane to Tyler: These are the shurikens of ice.

"These are the golden weapons. You need to protect these at all costs," Lloyd told us as we took the weapons from our fathers. "With proper training, you should be able to unlock the weapons' true potentials."

Of course, as soon as Tyler had his hands on the shurikens, he began throwing them like ninja stars throughout the room. Zane immediately took them back. "You can have these back once you mature a little more," he said.

The adults had a long talk, and it was decided that since Derek and the Serpentine were obviously after us, we had to start training a LOT faster.

* * *

Since that day, the adults all took turns training us, because, well, they're old and easily tired. Steph and Jess trained with us to control our powers. Amanda and Aunt Nya taught them basic fighting skills as well. In a secret room in Lloyd's basement, he had an obstacle course that he said would help us learn spinjitzu. Everyone went through it at least once a day to help us stay in shape - even the adults.

We finally found our green ninja. One day during training, Ryan shot out a blast of ice. At the EXACT same time, Zack shot out a blast of fire. As it turns out, the responsibility of the green ninja was split between the twins; Ryan had ice and earth powers, while Zack had fire and lightning. When they worked together, they were able to create a ball of green energy. As for Toby, Tyler, Brian and I, we learned to control our powers shortly after that.

Jessica, on the other hand, had already taught herself to use her lightning powers. She admitted to discovering her lightning over 2 years ago, and, wanting to keep it a secret, tried to control it on her own.

Steph was... harder. She couldn't sit still long enough to focus on her powers, and when she did, it was out of control. Somehow she managed to possess ALL the elemental powers, which made everything even more complicated. Dad said that she inherited it from Mom, since she had all four elements as well. Lloyd offered to train her privately, but private training hasn't been very helpful.

Toby and Jess started dating after a while. It was kind of weird, but I didn't question it. I mean, they weren't related by blood, so why should it matter?

Ever since that night the girls encountered the Serpentine, we haven't heard anything from them.

* * *

One day during training, Tyler had another one of his famous fits of rage when he couldn't get a fighting tactic down. This time, he actually stormed out of the house. Lloyd sent all the kids upstairs to take a break, but I hid in the staircase. Whenever the kids were forced to leave, that meant the adults were going to talk about us.

Aunt Nya, Amanda, Kru, and Melissa were all out shopping, so it was just the five ninja in the basement. Uncle Jay, Cole, and Lloyd were cleaning up the basement, but Zane was sitting with his head in his hands. Dad was trying to comfort him or something.

"You can't blame yourself for this, Zane," Dad said. "It's just in his blood, I guess. I doubt it's because you're a bad father, because you're NOT a bad father."

"Hold on a sec," Cole interrupted. "If it's in his blood, wouldn't that mean it _is_ Zane's fault? Not trying to make it worse or anything..." _Yes you are,_ I thought. Cole sucks at comforting people.

Zane's response changed my view of Tyler completely. "He's adopted, remember? I can't have kids because I'm a nindroid." I could tell by his tone of voice that saying that hurt.

"Did you ever tell him this?" Lloyd asked quietly. Zane nodded. "That might be part of the reason for his anger. He might feel rejected or something."

"Maybe." Zane paused. "Just please be patient with him. You all know he was tested for insanity."

"Yea, but it's barely there... right?" Uncle Jay asked nervously.

Zane sighed. "It's... gotten worse."

After that, I was so stunned that I quietly sneaked upstairs and into the backyard to be alone. I needed to collect my thoughts.

* * *

**Steph's P.O.V.**

Tyler was really upset about training, so I followed him outside to try to make him feel better. Jess said she would tell on me for leaving the house but I didn't care. "Tylerrrrrr!" I called, running after him.

"Fuck off," he said over his shoulder. That didn't stop me. I kept running until I was next to him. Mommy always said I was fast for my age. I miss her.

I pulled on his shirt and asked "Why are you sad, Tyler?"

He glanced down and me. "I don't see how this concerns you."

"Because you're my friend and when my friends are sad I'm sad." He stayed silent, so I tried thinking of something to cheer him up. "If you're upset about messing up in training it's ok because I don't do so well either and Daddy says it's ok if you don't pick it up at first and-" And then he freezed my feets to the ground.

"Stop following me," he said.

"Wait! Tyler, I'm stuck! Help meeee!"

"You have fire powers, use 'em." I tried, but I couldn't concentrate or something and it wouldn't work and I just started crying.

Tyler turned around when I started crying. He walked back towards me and said, "Shit, kid. What are ya cryin' for?"

"I'm stuck," I sniffled. He knelt down in front of me. For once I think his eyes looked softer and not so angry at everything.

"All you have to do is concentrate. Concentrate on everything that's ever gone wrong with your life. Let that fuel your powers. That's what I do." I closed my eyes and thought about the bad things in my life like he said, except I didn't have much to hate. I thought about the Serpentine and how they took Mommy. That was a bad thing to concentrate on, right?

Suddenly I felt my hands heat up slightly and I looked down to see the fire shooting out of my hands and melting the ice!

"Tyler, I did it!" Once I was free I gave him a big hug. At first he seemed shocked, but then he hugged me back. Everyone thinks he's a scary person but he can also be really nice.

* * *

**Joey's P.O.V.**

Jess came into the backyard. "Hey, Joey? Can you go tell Steph to come back inside before she gets in trouble?"

"What? Where did she go?"

"Um, she was following Tyler..."

"WHAT?!" I immediately remembered what I overheard the adults saying. Tyler was INSANE. He could KILL HER.

I jumped up and ran out the door. I saw Tyler and Steph... hugging? Yea, right, he could be preparing to kill her.

"Hey Tyler! Get away from my sister!"

He stepped away from her and gave me his signature grin that sent shivers down my spine. "I do whatever the hell I want, Sparky." I hate that name. Tyler knows I hate that name.

"Steph, just come back inside before I tell Dad." She tried the puppy dog eyes, but I didn't budge. I wasn't going to let Tyler hurt her. Steph finally put her head down and walked over to me. I grabbed her hand and saw Tyler's eyes turn impossibly darker. Then he turned away and continued walking down the street.

I knelt down and looked into Steph's eyes. "You need to listen to me, ok? Stay away from him. He could seriously hurt you."

"But he's nice."

"No, he's not. Listen to me or else you WILL get hurt, ok?"

She paused for a while. "Fine."

We walked back to the house in silence.

* * *

**Drama is beginning to brew between the ninja. Some of you have wondered how Zane can have kids. Well, there's your answer - he can't.**

**Like I mentioned in the beginning of the chapter, I'm trying to update as fast as I can. Feel free to bug me if I'm not updating fast enough.**

**Please review, and have a wonderful day :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**School starts on September 4th. Ugh. Apparently Junior year is supposed to be the most difficult in high school... kill me now plz ;~;**

**Anyway here's Chapter 6!**

* * *

**Steph's P.O.V.**

Joey was being a meany pants and I don't know why. Tyler may seem like a bad person but he's not.

The next day during training an alarm thingy went off. Aunt Nya and Uncle Jay installed it so we knew when there was trouble in Ninjago City. "It looks like there are some Serpentine terrorizing a playground. Alright, that's simple enough. You kids can handle it," Aunt Nya said. This would be our first fight against the Serpentine.

The boys put on their ninja suits and Jess put on her Samurai outfit. According to the adults, they were all exact copies of the old ninja suits. The twins had an exception though. Ryan had earth and ice designs on his sleeves and Zack had fire and lightning designs on his sleeves.

"Do I get an outfit?" I asked Daddy.

"Not yet, sweetie. We're going to wait a little longer so you can practice your powers more before you go out and fight." I pouted but didn't argue because he was right. I did need more practice.

While the other kids were gone the adults all went upstairs while I stayed in the basement. I decided that if I wanted to go out and fight, I should keep practicing on my own as well as during training.

I remembered what Tyler told me yesterday about how to focus in on my powers, but just as I was feeling the heat in my hands, I somehow lost control.

Realizing my eyes were closed, I opened them to see a ball of fire bouncing off the concrete walls. I screamed and ducked and then watched it crash into a cabinet full of different liquids or something. It came tumbling down, and one bottle hit me over the head. The last thing I heard before I passed out was the glass shattering on my head.

* * *

I awoke in the hospital. Looking around to see only Lloyd, my father, and my brother, I inquired about the other ninja and their families (wait did I just say "inquired"?!).

"They're at my house. It was just easier if only a few of us came," Lloyd replied.

"How are you feeling?" Dad asked.

"Um... REALLY weird... and there's also the headache..." I immediately noticed the change in my voice. "What happened to my voice? And why do I suddenly know big words like 'inquired'?"

"A bottle of Tomorrow Tea was spilled on you, along with a mix of other special teas that have given you more knowledge," Lloyd said.

"Tomorrow Tea?"

"It basically makes you older."

"WHAT?!" I finally looked down at my body and noticed how much I've changed. "How old am I?!"

"We think you're about 17," Joey told me.

Needless to say, I was in shock for the rest of the day.

* * *

**Kai's P.O.V.**

We adults yet again gathered around the dining room table with our cups of coffee to discuss yet another important matter.

"Who's gonna give her... uh, the talk?" Amanda said awkwardly.

"If you're implying what I think you're implying, I feel a woman should be the one to talk to her, since a male wouldn't know as much about the subject," Zane said.

"Ok, so it's between Kruthika, Amanda, Melissa, and Nya," Jay said, relieved to avoid the awkwardness. Though Steph is my daughter, I was also relieved to not have to bring this up with her. If only Jules were here...

"I vote Nya!" Kru shouted.

"Me too!" both Amanda and Melissa exclaimed.

"What?! Why me?!"

"You have a daughter, and you've already done it before, so you know what to say," I pointed out.

"She's YOUR daughter, Kai."

"Yes, but I don't know as much as you do about... um, females. Please, sis?"

Seeing all odds against her, she finally sighed. "Fine, I'll do it."

* * *

**Steph's P.O.V.**

Aunt Nya just told me some very disturbing information about my body. I'm just going to curl up in a ball for the rest of my life.

* * *

**Joey's P.O.V.**

Since Steph's accident, she was out of training for a while. No one really noticed much, except we didn't have to consistently dodge her uncontrolled elemental powers.

When Lloyd first told us Steph had to take some time off, I noticed a flash of something unfamiliar in Tyler's eyes. It seemed like since I caught them outside together that one time, he's been keeping an eye on her. It was only, like, a day or two ago, but it felts like he's taken a lot more interest in her, and I don't like it. His heart was colder than his ice powers, and topped with insanity that's getting worse... That bastard better stay away from my sister. Although I'm only 13 compared to him being 16, I'm still not afraid to mess him up if he hurts her in any way. And since I've been at this house, I've heard Zane scold Tyler for playing girls like action figures at LEAST six times. I don't even want to know what would happen if he were to make a move on Steph now that she's older.

Anyway, Lloyd tried teaching us how to find our true potentials, and apparently there's something blocking me from doing so. He said there's something inside each of us that prevents us from unlocking our potentials.

"How will he know when we've unlocked it?" Brian asked.

Lloyd smiled. "Trust me, you'll just know."

* * *

**Steph's P.O.V.**

Two days after the accident, I finally went back to training. It felt like FOREVER.

Since the accident, I had pretty much avoided everyone, and when I went into the basement in the spare clothes Jess let me borrow, I noticed Toby, Tyler, Brian, Ryan, and Zack all staring at me in awe. Tyler was the first to snap out of it, the look on his face disappearing as quickly as it appeared, making me wondered if he actually saw me or not. Next were Brian and Toby, the latter blushing and moving towards his girlfriend. But the twins kept on staring. I waved awkwardly and walked over to Joey, who seemed to be the only boy unaffected by my transformation.

He then tilted his head back in an exaggerated way and shouted, "Hello up there!" Just kidding.

The twins finally managed to stop gawking at me when Zane came downstairs. He was our teacher for the first half of today's training. "She looks like a hotter version of Catwoman!" I heard Ryan whisper to his brother, who giggled in response. Brain clonked them both over the head with his nunchucks while I tried to make my blush go away. It's strange how I've never noticed how perverted the twins were until now.

"Alright," Zane announced, "today we're starting off with the training course." I internally groaned. I could NEVER make it though the spinjitzu course.

The boys and Jess made it through with ease, but then it was my turn.

But with my new body, I had even more difficulty than I thought I would, and wound up against the wall with a sore but in two seconds flat.

Yes, because I'm going to be able to fight alongside the ninja one day *rolls eyes dramatically*

* * *

**Next chapter we're going to get a look into Tyler's head to see what the hell is going on. Besides, stick to only these three P.O.V.'s is irking me on so many levels, I need a break from their heads.**

**Poor Steph tho. It's like Lloyd's childhood all over again.**

**Don't forget to review, and tell me how I'm doing here, alright?**

**Thanks darlings, have a fabulous day :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**I had a dream last night that Pixal turned evil and tried to destroy everything and suddenly Cole, Jay, and Kai turned into black, blue, and red puffs of smoke and Zane was kidnapped by Pixal, but it was all part of a plan, and suddenly I'm sitting with Cole and Kai and we're talking about how often we shave our legs (yes, wtf) and I told them they were the only guys I knew who shaved their legs and they just smiled and said "yea, every four days".**

**I think I need to start seeing a therapist...**

**ANYWAY!**

**I don't know exactly what it's like to be inside an insane person's mind, but I'm giving it my best shot :P**

**Here's Chapter 7. Enjoy my pretties~**

* * *

**Steph's P.O.V.**

After once again failing at the spinjitzu training course, I just walked out of the room. I went upstairs, into the living room, and parked my butt on the couch in front of the tv. Thankfully, I don't think anyone noticed my walking out on training.

Except that's when I heard a voice. "What, so you're copying me now?" I jumped up off the couch to see that Tyler had followed me upstairs. He had his usual annoyed look on his face, but something was off. Like the time I followed him out of the house, I noticed this weird look in his eyes, like... not like he liked me, but just that he didn't hate me as much as everyone else.

I scoffed at him. "At least I stayed in the house. Too disappointed to move." I flopped back on the couch. Wait a sec... "Why did you follow me up here?"

* * *

**Tyler's P.O.V.**

My body stiffened at her question. How the hell was I supposed to answer that? The truth? That doesn't make sense. I can't tell her that she's the only person in this house that's shown the slightest shred warmth towards me ever, or that she has this weird ability to calm me when I really just wanna fuckin murder someone. So that's out of the question. Let's lie.

I can't say an adult sent me, because I don't listen to them anyway, why listen now? "You think I followed you?" I gave her a dirty look. "I don't give a shit if you leave or not, I came here to watch tv." I was a pretty smooth liar. With parents like mine, I kinda have to be to have any fun.

I stole the remote from her hand and began flipping through channels, but I still felt her eyes burning into the side of my head.

"Why are you lying?"

Throwing a quick glance at her, I hesitated before answering. "Yea, like _you'd_ know if someone's lying." I rolled my eyes.

"Your body stiffened, and though your hands were in your pockets, I still noticed how you rub your index finger and thumb together when you lie." How the hell did she know that?! "I don't see how no one else has caught onto that yet, by the way. It's kinda obvious." I noticed her brother was hella observant, but I didn't think the trait ran in the family. "So again, why are you lying?"

Stunned at her intelligence, I replied, "Damn, for an eight-year-old, you're pretty frickin smart."

She averted her eyes and sighed. "Don't remind me."

"Why not?"

"Do you think I enjoy what's been going on these past couple weeks?" she replied in a low voice. "Now that I'm older, and smarter, I realize how terrible my life is."

Usually, when I have a girl in this position, I just say whatever I can to get her in bed with me. But that's the only reason I deal with emotional girls. So naturally, I have no freakin clue what to do here.

Actually you know what? "I don't have to deal with you." I stood up to leave.

"So walk out." I paused. "That's what you do best, right? You shut down and walk out whenever something goes wrong, and hope that someone will follow you. That only works for so long. Eventually people will give up on following you."

"That's funny because I have nothing to walk out on," I snapped.

"You have a family, don't you?"

"It doesn't matter because they're not my real parents!" Fuck. That wasn't supposed to slip out. No one knows about that except me, and my parents. I HATE how this kid gets to me...

I do cry often, I just don't admit it or let anyone watch. So I did the only thing I knew how to do (according to Stephanie) - I walked out.

Or at least I tried to. As I turned to go to the door, Stephanie wrapped her arms around me. Honestly, no one's hugged me in... let's just say it's been a while... a LONG while.

Still, I wasn't going to cry in front of her, so I tried pushing her off so I could leave. "No." That's all she said, but that's all it took for me to stop struggling. I just stood there while she hugged me, trying not to let the waterworks begin. I waited for the taunting. Whenever I feel like crying, the voices always start taunting me for being a "cry baby", and that's when I lose my temper and break things. But this time, it didn't happen.

The silence was more irritating than the voices.

I felt the anger building inside of me, and if this bitch didn't get off me, I was going to throw her out the window, and watch as she rolled through the broken shards of glass across the pavement outside, her blood coating the sidewalk like a fresh layer of sparkling red paint...

The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. But as if she sensed something inside of me, she hugged me tighter, stifling the urge to mutilate her body.

And that's when I finally hugged her back.

* * *

**Joey's P.O.V.**

I wasn't sure how long they had been gone. When Steph walked out, Zane told us to let her, because the changes in her body and mind are just taking her a while to get used to. I shrugged it off. Even as an 8-year-old kid, Steph was able to get over things pretty easily.

But it was a while before I noticed Tyler had disappeared. He even left his shurikens in the basement unattended. Although I'm now the younger brother, the overprotective older brother side of me came out. What if he had followed Steph out? What if he was trying to take advantage of her while she was upset? He did that to girls WAY too often for me to think he wouldn't do that to her.

Telling Zane I was just going to the bathroom, I ran up the stairs to look for both of them. Unfortunately, I found them both in the same room.

Not even the same room, the same SPOT.

And they were HUGGING.

But Tyler's eyes were open wide and had a foggy look to them, and it kind of looked like he wanted to murder someone. And he was touching my SISTER while thinking like this...

"Tyler," I said. "Get. AWAY. From my SISTER."

* * *

**Welp. Shit's gonna hit the fan. Next chapter gets hella fuckin intense, so prepare yourselves.**

**Don't forget to review and have a fan-fuckin-tastic day :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright so for the next couple of days I'm dedicating all of my free time to writing this because school starts on Thursday and I want to finish as much of this as I can before then because once I start getting homework it will never end and then I won't be able to update until, like, November/December. But I'm not giving up on this story, so until I change the label thing to say "Complete" this story will continue. Eventually.**

**Enjoy, friends~**

* * *

**Joey's P.O.V.**

I swear if Steph hadn't been hugging him still I would've tackled him and beat the crap out of him like he beats the crap out of Serpentine.

That's when I realized who I was dealing with. I've LITERALLY watched Tyler get so frustrated while trying to successfully complete a fighting tactic we learned that he took a Serpentine by the throat and pounded him until the blood gushing from the poor thing's head had created a lake on the ground. I'm not just dealing with some punk trying to hit on my now-teenage sister - this is Tyler Julian, the insane freak with anger issues and strong fighting skills. Sure, my skills are better than his, but he's far stronger.

After I had yelled at him to get away from Steph, he immediately jumped back liked he'd been burned. He had this confused, innocent look on his face. It was almost pure, considering he always had a malicious sneer on his face when he looked at me.

But then the sneer was back. Tyler tilted his head slightly and a wide-eyed grin covered his face. It was a look far more - I guess you can say murderous - than I've ever seen before, like he had finally snapped, and now just wanted to slaughter everything in sight. His arm slithered around Steph's shoulders and held her a little too snugly against his side. His white knuckled left hand was squeezing her shoulder, and I could see the brief flinch she made, but she made no effort to break free.

"There somethin' you want, Sparky?" he said casually, the sadistic grin growing wider.

Although scared out of my freakin mind, I stood my ground for my sister. "Leave her alone. I'm not gonna let you hurt her."

"Oh!" he responded innocently and sarcastically. "You mean, like this?"

* * *

**Steph's P.O.V.**

I felt Tyler calming down. I felt all his anger leaving his body. I could tell something was really wrong - something under the surface that I couldn't see. Hugging him helped a lot.

But Joey ruined it. The second Tyler pulled away, I felt his mind snap. I guess that's kinda weird, but I felt it. But I also wasn't that afraid.

Just kidding. What do you think this is, one of those lame teen novels where the guy is some monster and the girlfriend is the only one not afraid of him? Of course I was afraid! Wait, am I referring to myself as Tyler's girlfriend?!

Forget it! There are more pressing matters at hand!

Unsuccessfully, I tried to minimize my flinching. Tyler needs friends he can trust, and I want Joey to be one of them, but Joey can't trust a guy who hurts his sister.

I needed to find a way to calm Tyler down again. Obviously he wasn't going to hug in front of Joey - heck, it's a miracle I got him to hug me in the first place. After not coming up with any ideas, I silently begged Tyler with my mind to calm down.

"Oh! You mean, like this?" Tyler said. I watched him form an icicle in his hand and thrust it at my throat. Joey shouted and lunged to stop him. I didn't scream out loud, only in my head. That's when I saw the icicle stop in mid-air. Joey noticed it as well, and stopped mid-stride. It was as if all time had stopped and the three of us just kind of stood there.

Tyler looked at me with a blank awkward stare. At least the sadistic grin from before was gone. "Did you just...?"

"Did I just what?" I asked.

He paused. Joey just looked really confused. "Nothing..." Then he turned. And he sprinted out the door.

"Tyler, wait!" I called, chasing after him. I don't know what just happened, but I wasn't giving up on him. I wasn't going to be like everyone else who had just watched as he slammed the door.

"Steph, there's no way I'm letting you go after him," Joey said sternly, grabbing my arm.

"Get off!" I yelled, pushing him away and freezing his feet to the floor. I didn't bother questioning how I managed to do that, I just took the opportunity to bolt out the door.

But when I looked both ways down the street, he was nowhere in sight. I sighed and walked back in the house to watch Joey melting the ice off his feet. A small - very tiny - smile crossed my face when I remembered how Tyler used the same technique on me.

"What do you have against him?" I asked Joey. "So what, he gets a little grumpy sometimes, that doesn't mean he's a terrible person! He's never hurt any of us, what makes you think he will now? You don't even know him, just give the kid a chance!"

"He's insane, dammit!" Joey shouted. I've only heard him curse one other time before, and that was the night Mom... well, you know. He was so angry he said, "I'm going to exterminate every damn one of those snakes."

"You can't tell him I told you, because I was eavesdropping on Dad and Zane, and apparently it's a secret, but he's insane. And it's getting worse. And he has anger problems. I don't know what insane people are like, and I just don't want you to get hurt."

Oh. Well that explains a lot. Except now I'm even more worried about Tyler...

* * *

**Tyler's P.O.V.**

I don't know why the hell her voice was in my head but I don't like it. I heard her voice begging me to relax, and that her brother was just overreacting. Then I heard her scream. Her lips didn't move, yet she screamed. In my head. It's just better that I stay away from her. For now at least. She did manage to cancel out the other voices, though...

I just need girls. Girls keep me sane and happy, even if it's just for the night. Yea, that's what I need. Let's see if the twins are available again.

* * *

**Kai's P.O.V.**

_Why didn't I think of this earlier?_ I thought. I just want to make sure she's ok. Julia's a strong girl, I know that. But I don't know how well she can fight off the Serpentine while pregnant - even if she was the strongest of all of us (yes, even stronger than Cole in his youth).

I turned to Lloyd. "Hey Lloyd. You can talk to Jules with your mind, right?"

His face went pale. I kinda feel bad for him. Ever since we decided to train the kids, he's been under so much pressure. I think I've even seen some gray hairs on his head.

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask..."

I felt my heart drop. "Why not?" I asked. Except I didn't want to know.

"It's like... when my dad died. Suddenly it's like all communication was cut off. Sometimes I feel like she's still there, but I also felt that when Dad passed. I can't tell if I'm just wishing she were there, or if she's not. I'm sorry, Kai."

Well crap. My hopes were just flushed down the toilet.

* * *

**Steph's P.O.V.**

Joey and I stood there awkwardly for a bit. Now I understand why he was so worried about Tyler hurting me, but I'm still going to help him. With caution. EXTREME caution.

"Joey, I understand you're my brother, and you're just trying to protect me because I OBVIOUSLY can't defend myself - " I paused, remembering training today, and cringed a little, " - and I love you for that. Thank you. But being a ninja is about teamwork; Tyler is our teammate. Which means he's also our friend, but no one treats him that way. I think that it's time we start doing so."

"It's not like he's nice to any of us, though," Joey grumbled.

"That's because he's used to being rejected by everyone. He doesn't know how to act, I think."

"You think?"

"Well I only talked to him for like five minutes, give me a break, kid." I felt the tension from a moment ago start to disappear. "But I could tell how he was feeling, and these are the conclusions I've come to. We need to be his friend. If you don't want to, that's your loss, but I'm going to befriend him no matter what you say."

Joey stared at his shoes, absorbing what I said. Finally he looked up and smiled a little. "Remember when you were 8 and not serious about anything, and just wanted to do whatever I wanted to do? You followed me around like a lost puppy... And now, you have your own opinions and everything..."

"Joey - "

"And I respect your opinions. You're my sister, and you're just as smart as me. Just kidding, I'm smarter." He grinned, and I rolled my eyes. "So I'll help you. But if he hurts you I swear you won't see him again with a head attached to his shoulders."

"Ha, ok," I responding, hugging him. He then turned to go back to the basement to train, and I decided to go with him. Maybe I'll do better this time. Just kidding, I suck.

Before we reached the basement door, the front door suddenly burst open and a guy in a lab coat came in, slamming the door closed behind him. His eyes looked around frantically, then widened in excitement as they landed on Joey.

"SON!" he exclaimed, rushing over to give him an exaggerated hug.

"Son?" Joey and I said in unison.

* * *

**Ok I'm sorry can we just take a moment to appreciate this line: "What do you think this is, one of those lame teen novels where the guy is some monster and the girlfriend is the only one not afraid of him? Of course I'm afraid!" I just thought that was beautiful when I wrote it because EVERY teen novel that uses a supernatural creature is EXACTLY like that.**

**That got kind of deep towards the end...**

**So who's this stranger, and why the hell is he calling Joey his son? Kai is Joey's father... right? Or is he? *insert dramatic gasping***

**Stay tuned for more! I should update at LEAST twice within the next couple days, preferably more, but as I said in the beginning A/N, school's starting Thursday *cries* Bye-bye, internet, I'll miss you ;~;**

**Anyway, I hope y'all have a great day/night :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Welcome back :) Enjoy~**

* * *

**Joey's P.O.V.**

I was in panic mode. Who the heck is this stranger who just called me son?! Escaping his hug, I grabbed Steph (who was paralyzed in confusion) and ran down to the basement. That guy isn't my father... right? I have a ninja for a father: Kai, the ninja of fire. That's where my elemental power comes from... right?

"Dad!" I called into the basement, where he was talking to Lloyd.

"SON! COME BACK! I KNOW IT'S BEEN A WHILE, BUT LET ME LOVE YOU!" the lab coat guy called, following us downstairs. The entire basement full of people stared at him as if he had and extra ear. I clung to Dad, while Steph did the same, still extremely confused. The guy came over to us, composed himself, and held out his hand. "I believe you are Zane Julien?"

"Uh, no," Dad replied. "Zane's over there, I'm Kai. These are _my_ children, Joey, and Stephanie."

"Kai?" The guy cocked his head to the side. "Julia's husband?"

Dad tensed up, as did Steph and I. "What do you know about my wife?"

"Ah! So I AM in the right house!"

"Alright, who are you and how the hell did you get in my house?" Lloyd demanded.

"You must be the all-powerful green ninja, Lloyd, Julia's cousin." Dad's muscles tensed even more at the mention of Mom's name. "You know, you shouldn't leave your front door unlocked with the Serpentine on the loose, although they're avoiding you at the moment, knowing you'd band together to bring back the elemental ninja... Oh! And my name! I am Dr. Jerry Steinsberry, and YOU, my friend," he pointed at Zane, "have adopted my SON. Where is he? I would like to see him." I looked around the room, and Steph was the only child NOT confused by this information. Tyler was adopted?! Well, that would explain why his parents were so clam compared to him.

"I thought you gave him up at birth? Why would you want to see him now, after all this time?" Zane asked.

"That was an error of my wife, Delilah. One night while I was at work, she disappeared, taking young Tyler with her. She must have put him up for adoption without my permission... But I have found his new home, and I would like to see him!"

Lloyd looked at him with scrutinizing eyes, and moved closer, now armed with a sword. "How'd you find this house?"

"Wow! No need to get violent!" Dr. Steinsberry exclaimed. "I had been working as a doctor for the Serpentine, and I had a chance to talk with Julia after I aborted her baby - "

"YOU WHAT?!" Dad exploded, throwing Steph and me off away so he could go grab Steinberry's throat and hold him in the air. Steph had tears in he eyes, so I went to comfort her while Dad confronted this guy.

"Now, now! It wasn't my fault! The Serpentine and their leader attacked her house, yes? As they did so, one of them accidentally stabbed her stomach as fought with them, killing the baby. She's very lucky to be surviving after the surgeries! I had arrived just in time to see this, and immediately went to work. I knew the Serpentine wanted to kidnap, but I wasn't letting them kill a pregnant woman. Luckily they did not attack me for doing so."

Dad started to relax, and let go of Steinberry's neck. "Jules is... alive?"

"That she is! But once the Serpentine come after you, they will kill her. They just wanted her for the information. They have her locked up in a room that reduces her powers, so she couldn't even send out a telepathic message for help. The Serpentine plan on attack in exactly one week, so that's how long you have to save her."

"Why are you telling us this?" Cole asked. "If you work for the Serpentine, how do we know we can trust you? Or that this information is correct?" I looked around the room, and noticed that Toby and Brian stood ready with their weapons, and the twins were holding hands (because their abilities are split, it's easier for them to fight this way). Zane had Tyler's shurikens in his hands, while Jess and all the other adults (except Dad) wielded a sword. Brian had nonchalantly kicked the case with my fire sword in it over to where I was standing. Although he brought good news, no one trusted Dr. Steinsberry.

"As I said previously, I spent much time talking with Julia, and one day I decided to open up to her about my lost son, which she thought to be Zane and Amanda's adopted child. As of that moment, I switch sides, vowing to protect my son from those evil snakes. I now bring you information about the Serpentine to aid you in defeating them."

"So Julia told you where we live?" Kru asked.

"Well, if she trusts him, then he's obviously not a bad guy," Toby said.

A discussion broke out, and it was finally decided that we would cautiously trust him.

* * *

**Tyler's P.O.V.**

I made it to the hot twins' house, but I noticed their boyfriends' cars in the driveway, and walked right past the house. The twins - Alex and Stacy - had cheated on their boyfriends to be with me more than once, so if I showed up and gave that fact away, I would no longer have two friends with benefits. And I'd have to fight two extremely pissed off football players.

The walk had calmed me down more than enough, although I would've liked to "play" a little with the twins... Oh well. Instead I started walking back to Lloyd's house.

Halfway down the basement steps, I heard a conversation going on in the basement. "Oh! And my name!" said an unfamiliar voice. "I am Dr. Jerry Steinsberry, and YOU, my friend, have adopted my SON." I froze, realizing that guy was referring to me. All these thoughts raced through my mind as I continued to eavesdrop, learning why I was abandoned as a baby, and all this other crap...

I had to sit on the steps, pulling my thoughts together. Well, trying to pull my thoughts together... I could never do that very well.

But one thought stood out in my mind: My dad - the REAL one - abandoned his work to find me. Does he... after all these years... love me?

_Ha! BULL FUCKIN SHIT! You know nobody loves you! all you have is us!_ I rubbed my temples.

_Aw, leave the poor kid alone. His daddy finally wants him. How cute! I could just die._ The word "die" made my entire face twitch.

_Can you guys just shut the hell up and leave me alone for once?_

_Hey, you were blocking us out earlier, why not do it again?_

_When did I do that?_

_When you were with that hot brunette ;)_

_Yea, the one who cared about your feelings. How lame. She's probably using you, like everyone is._

Wait, being with Steph helped me block out the voices?

_If she doesn't hurt you, you know her brother will try to hurt you. You saw how he was acting when he caught you two together._

_I hope you rip out her heart with your bare hands and feed it to her._

_If you don't, she'll do it to you... metaphorically speaking._

_No, LITERALLY feed her her own heart! It'll be great!_

_Yea, do it with your father as well... the more blood..._

_...the more fun._

"NO!" I didn't realize I had said that out loud until a few heads peeked around the side of the staircase to see me sitting there, hands squeezing my head.

Of course, Zane had to speak up. "How long have you been sitting there?"

I gave him a cold, hard look. "Long enough," I said sharply.

"Then what's wrong with your biological father staying with us for a while?"

"You say that like you treat me like a son." I stood up to leave. Maybe I should just stay outside forever. I always walk out anyway.

"Tyler - "

"SON?!" Jerry - I think that's his name - exclaimed, and without looking, I could tell his eyes were glowing in excitement.

"He better start running now..." I heard Joey say.

"WHAT THE HELL'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN SPARK PLUG?!" I shouted back at him.

Suddenly I was wrapped in the most awkward and enthusiastic hug of my life. I didn't even have time to respond, never mind room to breathe. Over the shoulder of Jerry's shoulder, I saw Joey standing there with an apologetic look.

"That's what it's supposed to mean," he replied simply. Steph stood beside him, shooting me a warm smile, and it felt like my heart flipped upside down. But for once, I didn't feel like everyone in the room hated me. My... real dad obviously loved me -

_Not when he gets to know you he won't_

_Shut up you piece of shit and let me finish my damn thought._

- Steph wanted to be my friend -

_WITH BENEFITS! MAKE IT WITH BENEFITS!_

_SHUT UP, DAMMIT!_

_Wow, rude much?_

- and Joey didn't look like he hated me as much as he used to.

_Yea, just for the moment._

_He'll hate you again soon enough._

The voices rambled on some more, then I passed out from lack of oxygen because my father wouldn't let go.

* * *

**That was a fun chapter to write, especially because I finally decided that Jules is gonna live! Also Tyler's voices are fun characters, don't y'all agree?**

**Alright, I plan on two more chapters before Thursday, so just keep an eye out for them!**

**Have a super sparkly day, and please review because ily :3**


	10. Chapter 10

**My mom signed me up to work for a couple days before school no mom y u do dis I need to write my story and watch anime I don't wanna work ;~;**

**Anyway here's Chapter 10~**

* * *

**Kai's P.O.V.**

Tyler spent the rest of the day with Jerry. I could tell Zane and Amanda were upset. Their own son got along better with a stranger than he got along with the people who raised them. They asked everyone to leave them alone for a while.

I was still overjoyed that Jules was alive. For what seemed like years, she had been missing, and all the evidence led to her being... gone. Now that I think of it, it's only been a week or two without her - but it still feels like forever.

The Serpentine are DEFINITELY going to pay for killing out unborn child. I plan on burning all of their insides while they're still living.

Speaking of Serpentine, the alarm went off, signalling an attack. For once, Tyler didn't drag ass getting ready. He looked... eerily enthusiastic. I hope that meeting his biological father doesn't screw with his head too much.

* * *

**Joey's P.O.V.**

"The Serpentine sure have been robbing a lot of banks lately," Brian said on the way to the bank. By now, all of us were able to turn our golden weapons into vehicles.

"_Trying_ to rob them," Ryan corrected.

"Yea, we're so good we stop them every time without a problem," Zack continued.

"Says the kid who can't tie his shoes and kept tripping over them last time," Jess said, causing everyone - even Zack - to laugh.

"Ok, here's our strategy today," Toby started. "We go in, kick some snake tail, return the money, and go home and sleep." That last comment made me realize that the sun was already setting.

At the bank, the Serpentine had just broken into the safe an were bagging up the money. One snake - who still had a black eye from last time we fought the Serpentine - face-palmed at the sight of us. Another started crying.

Tyler was the first to attack. He seemed a little too eager today.

I noticed that everyone else was just standing there awkwardly watching him. That's when I saw that look on his face again - that sadistic grin that screamed I want to murder everything. We watched as he picked up a snake by its throat, stabbed an ice shuriken into his chest, and freeze his heart. Then he kicked the body across the room.

The other Serpentine were so frightened that they dropped the money they were stealing and ran outside, willing put on handcuffs, and jumped into the backseats of the awaiting police cars.

But apparently Tyler wasn't done yet. He started to chase after the snakes - probably to kill them as well - but Toby blocked the door.

"Dude, the Serpentine are already being arrested, our work is done here. Let's just go home..."

Tyler's grin grew larger and his eyes grew wider. He cracked his knuckles and moved closer to Toby, who started to panic a little. "Uh, um, what are you - Tyler, I'm not a snake!"

"I never said you were," Tyler responded in monotone. Toby looked like he was about to cry - which is COMPLETELY unlike him.

I heard someone come in the other door behind us, but I didn't look. None of us did. We were too paralyzed with fear to even blink.

Toby finally decided to run out of the door he was blocking, and Tyler slowly followed; his motions were kind of like serial killers in horror movies - all he did was walk, but it was still threatening and he most likely will catch up no matter how fast you run.

Luckily, whoever came in the door a minute ago tackled him to the ground. They landed outside the door, and the five of us (Ryan, Zack, Jess, Brian, and I) finally snapped out of our trance to see who saved Toby.

Jess and Brian immediately ran off to find Toby, while the twins and I stared in shock at the black ninja's savior:

Steph.

She had Tyler pinned to the ground in a hug and he was crying... a LOT. I've never seen the kid shed a tear in his life, and now here he was bawling like a baby. Steph turned her head and said, "All of you need to leave. NOW."

I started to respond. "Steph, you need to get out of here, too. He's lost it - "

She pulled a dagger out of her back pocket and pointed at me. "LEAVE. I can handle this. Just GO."

"But - "

"Do you have a death wish or something?! GET OUT OF HERE ALREADY!"

I stared for a second longer, then turn and left, the twins following. I was so confused. First Tyler turns on his teammates, then Steph comes out of nowhere, and Tyler CRIED, and Steph pointed a dagger at her brother and her two best friends... Maybe this was all a dream.

The twins were as speechless as I was. But instead of going home, they ducked around the side of the bank, motioning for me to follow.

"I don't trust Tyler," Ryan explained. "We shouldn't leave her alone with him. No matter what." I nodded in agreement.

* * *

**Steph's P.O.V.**

I thought my head was going to explode. It felt like I was watching as some other person took over my body. All I knew was I had a terrible feeling that Tyler was in trouble and I had to help. It's like I could actually here his voice saying "Help me". Then suddenly I was running to the bank where I knew he would be, tackling him to the ground, and out of nowhere the person controlling my body had a dagger pointed at Joey.

Remembering I had tackled Tyler and not gotten up, I crawled over to the side of the building and curled up in a ball, squeezing my head in my hands. My head was spinning, so many thoughts crowded my mind... I kinda really wanted to just punch something. I've had this feeling a couple times since I turned into a teenager, but

Somewhere in the distance I heard Tyler's crying stop. Crap, did I make him cry?! I couldn't tell, and I couldn't care less right now.

Unable to control the urge to pound something, I turned and punched the wall behind me as hard as I could. The wall dented a little, but strength like that came along with having earth powers - or all of the elemental powers for that matter. My knuckles started to bleed a little, but my head still wanted to explode, and punching things felt good, so I went to punch the wall some more, except a hand stopped me.

"You're scaring me," I heard Tyler's voice say, snapping me back into reality. "You're acting like me, that's scary. Stop it."

"What?" I said, watching the blood ooze from my hand some more.

Tyler must have seen it, too, because he helped me stand and said, "You need to get to a hospital."

"Why?" I said. I don't know what you're talking about Tyler. It's just blood. Blood isn't bad.

_Yes it is,_ said his voice in my mind._ If you lose a lot of blood you can die._

"Why is your voice in my head?" I said.

He blushed. "I'll explain later. But you need a hospital."

"No..."

"Yes, you do, dammit."

* * *

**Tyler's P.O.V.**

I don't know how she did it, but somehow Stephanie was able to calm me down enough so I didn't kill Toby. I'm not proud that I cried as much as I did after that little episode, but thank goodness she was there. Why she was there, I don't know.

But now she sounds... well, like me. My dad - just kidding, Zane told me that I'm partially insane, but I don't see it. So what, I have anger issues sometimes. That doesn't make me crazy. I don't think Steph is crazy either, but I am worried about her. After I was "diagnosed" with insanity, my life pretty much went down the toilet. She deserves better. She has people to care about her.

After Steph got her hand fixed up (luckily she didn't need stitches or anything), she seemed a lot better.

"Thank you for taking me to the hospital," she said. "And sorry I kinda lost my head, I don't know what was wrong with me... Why are you taking care of me, anyway?"

I felt myself blush, but forced it to go away. "Well, uh, you've been nice to me so, I just wanted to return the favor." I paused before continuing. "Also I think I know why you acted the way you did."

"How?" Before I could respond, someone's phone started ringing. "Oh, sorry, it's my dad."

"Don't answer it," I said quickly.

"Why not?"

I sighed. "It's just... We need to talk before you try explaining this to anyone else."

She rolled her eyes and answered it anyway. "Hey, Dad, what's up?"

"Where the hell are you? Joey and the others came home without Tyler, no one's saying what went on but I heard them say something about you." Damn, Kai was so loud... he must have been REALLY pissed.

"Dad, I told you I just went for a walk. I kinda lost track of where I was going and went NEAR where they were fighting. Besides, I saw the cops putting the snakes in handcuffs when I got there, so the fight was already over, and there was no danger. Trust me, I'm not gonna fight with them any time soon." That seemed to appease him, but I'm surprised how well she handled that. "No, I didn't go inside the bank." Well, that was a lie. "I don't know where Tyler is. Like I said, I wasn't in the bank, so I didn't see any of the ninja, or Jess." That was also a lie. I'm standing right here. "Alright, I'll see you when I get home... love you, too. Bye."

"You just lied to your dad," I said in disbelieve when she hung up.

"Yea, and? You're the one who said I shouldn't explain what actually happened to others, and I can't just ignore his call. So what do you need to tell me?"

"We should probably go sit somewhere or something. This might take a while."

* * *

**Alrighty, so some interesting stuff happened in this chapter. Next chapter should be up on/before Sunday (since it won't be done before Thursday like I originally planned).**

**So yea, that is all for now. See y'all later. Have a great day & don't forget to review :)**


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